Standing, I chanted the next two lines. Heat waves rose from the array. A rainbow of colors rippled over the circle—yellow and gray where the sulfur and iron had rested, white and brown where the salt and copper had been consumed, and a shimmering swirl of pink and green where the oil had evaporated.

I flung the iron powder across the circle. It sizzled in the air and the colors brightened. I triple-checked the last line, then declared, “Haec vis signetur, surgat vis haec iussu: eruptum impello.”

The glowing magic and shimmering light rippled, then sucked down into the open triangle that directed the power into the artifact. The runes on the iron rectangle lit up and swirled with all the colors of the array. The spell circle darkened until only the artifact glowed brightly.

Then all the light and magic snuffed out like a candle flame in the wind.

I checked the book. Aside from a warning that the spell wouldn’t affect any people or objects the caster was touching, it had no further instructions. The last line of text was the artifact’s short “trigger incantation,” which would activate the spell it now contained—assuming I’d done everything right.

Amalia leaned forward. “Did it work?”

“I’m not sure.” I lifted the iron rectangle and weighed it on my palm. The runes I’d drawn on it were now etched lightly into its face. “I’ll have to test it.”

She waited a moment. “Then test it.”

“Um.” I glanced around the room. “Maybe not here. If it works, it might damage something.”

Pulling my infernus off, I unclasped the chain and fed it through the hole at the top of the artifact. It settled beside the silver pendant like an oversized dog tag.

Amalia helped me clean up the room, then we hurried out of the guild and onto the downtown streets. Though we could’ve caught a bus, the wait would have taken almost as long as walking, so we set out at a quick pace—or rather, Amalia walked at a comfortable pace and I half-jogged on my much shorter legs.

The four- and five-story businesses surrounding the Crow and Hammer were swiftly replaced by thirty-story skyscrapers. Vehicles zoomed past as we walked along the sidewalk, the noon rush hour translating to increased foot traffic as well. It was the Friday before Christmas, and what seemed like half the downtown populace was taking advantage of a rare day without rain to escape their offices for lunch. I dodged people every twenty steps, but Amalia blazed straight ahead, forcing other pedestrians to leap out of her way. If I tried that, I’d get trampled. More short people problems.

We crossed a busy intersection and headed down an attractive street with trees along the boulevard. Ahead, the office tower loomed, slightly less intimidating in the daylight. As before, construction barriers were arranged in front, and the window I’d broken gaped accusingly.

“This is it?” Amalia asked.

I nodded, blinking against my dry contacts. “That’s it. The alley goes around to the back where we can get inside.”

My heart thrummed unhappily at the prospect of entering the building again, but at least I had a flashlight this time. I was getting the hang of this “combat mythic” thing. All I needed now was a fancy vest like the—

We rounded a corner and stopped dead.

—like the Crow and Hammer team standing around the very entrance Zylas and I had broken into last night. The doors of the guild’s big black van hung open, and the mythics were unbuckling weapons and tossing them into the back. I spotted Drew, Cameron, and Darren, plus three other guild members whose names I couldn’t remember.

“Robin?” Zora stepped around the van. “What are you doing here?”

My stomach dropped sickeningly. In the aftermath of my “infiltration” last night, I’d completely forgotten that Zora and her team had planned to investigate the building this morning. If I’d remembered, I would’ve warned Zora not to go. Even her experienced team was no match for this nest.

She approached Amalia and me, and two men broke away from the group to follow her.

“Um,” I mumbled as the three mythics drew closer. “Hi Zora, and … uh …”

The older guy, with brown hair, fine laugh lines around his eyes, and a fatherly sort of look, held out his hand. “I’m Andrew.”

I shook his offered hand, then shook hands with the other man, early thirties with short black hair and teak skin, who introduced himself as Taye in a pleasantly deep voice with a South African accent.

“I’m Robin. This is Amalia.” I forced a smile for Zora. “We were just swinging by to see how things went.”

She folded her arms and cocked a hip, her huge sword strapped to her back. “A total bust. They were definitely here, possibly right up until last night, but they’ve jumped ship. The place is abandoned.”

I almost wilted with relief. Thank goodness everyone was safe.

“We found destroyed documents and a burnt computer,” she continued. “It looks like this is where the contents of that summoner’s townhouse ended up, but an explosion of some kind ruined everything.”

“An explosion?” I repeated with innocent disbelief.

“We checked the entire building. Nothing. Andrew is taking the rest of the team back. Taye and I will give it one more thorough check for any hints on where they’ve gone, but …” She shook her head.

“How long will that take?” Amalia asked.

“A few hours, I expect.”

“Damn, well, that sucks,” Amalia said brusquely. “Guess we’ll leave you to it. Come on, Robin.”

My mouth was still hanging open when she grabbed my arm and hauled me back down the alley to the street.

“Amalia, that was rude,” I hissed.

“What, did you want to stay and discuss the weather?” She dropped my arm and glared around at the busy street. “If they’re going to be in there for hours yet, we’ll have to wait to check it out.”

“I was about to suggest we help them search the building.”

She scowled. “Well, why didn’t you say so?”

“You didn’t give me a chance!” I huffed. “I’m pretty sure there’s nothing to find inside. Zylas blew the room to smithereens. We need to know where the vampires are now.”

“If we can get our hands on one, we can question them,” Amalia agreed. “Find out what they’re up to and what they know about my dad and the grimoire.”

I wasn’t as confident in our interrogation skills. “But how will we find them?”

We exchanged helpless looks as we strolled past the tower, feigning nonchalance. Pedestrians buffeted us as we passed a décor shop and a pizza joint.

“We need a way to track them,” I muttered. “Zora’s artifacts only work on nearby vampires. We need a spell that works like a bloodhound …”

“Or we need an actual bloodhound.”

I stopped. A businessman shouldered past me, muttering angrily, and I shuffled closer to a shop window.

“Zylas can track them,” I exclaimed in a whisper, amazed I hadn’t thought of him immediately. “He can follow the blood scent.”

Amalia’s face brightened hopefully, then her scowl reappeared. She waved at the bustle around us. “It’ll be the dead of night before these streets are empty enough for you to walk a demon around in the open.”